The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic
The first book in Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic book series. The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (also titled: Confessions of a Shopaholic) introduces us to the character of Becky Bloomwood. Plot Becky is a twenty-something financial journalist working for a magazine named Successful Savings. She lives in a flat in Fulham, London with her roommate and best friend Suze. Becky knows very little about the world of financial affairs, however is very knowledgeable about the world of beauty, fashion and designer home ware. This is what leads Becky to being in thousands of pounds of debt. By rationalising her spending by calling items of clothing which she's purchased as 'investments' or 'necessary', she often finds herself ignoring demands for payment by various banks and department stores. This is what leads Becky into a cycle of debt which she has no clue how to get out of. When Becky's on her way to a press conference at Brandon Communications, she gets distracted by a 'SALE' sign in the window of Denny and George. Conveniently the scarf she's always craved for has been reduced by 50%. Realising she's left her VISA card in her office and having no time to go back, she tries to pay with cash, however she hasn't got enough on her. She manages to persuade the sales assistant to hold the item until the end of the day which would give her enough time to run back and get her VISA card. Halfway through the press conference, Becky receives a call from her boss asking her to go on another errand. She realises if she does the errand she'll have no time to go back to the office and grab her credit card, she only needs £20, so instead, she asks her conference friend Elly to lend her the money, however, she is also out of cash too. Luke Brandon from Brandon Communications overhears Becky's problem and offers to lend Becky the £20 she needs for the scarf, however, Becky being Becky, she makes up that the money she needs to borrow is needed to by a present for her fictitious Aunt Ermitude. Later on in the week, Suze invites Becky to go out for dinner with her and her cousins which includes Tarquin. Whilst at the restaurant, Becky spots Luke having dinner with his parents. Trying to prove that she can network too, Becky goes over to say hello to Luke and to thank him for lending her the money, however, when Luke's mother comments on Becky's scarf, she starts letting her mouth run away with her, however then realises that she's made a mistake and in the heat of the moment tells a suspicious Luke that her Aunt has died. Becky leaves the table mortified. After the restaurant incident, Luke runs into Becky again and asks her to go to Harrods wit him for advice on shopping. When they arrive they have fun trying to pick out different types of luggage, later Luke invites Becky for lunch where he informs her that the luggage is intended for his girlfriend. Becky feels misled as she's just spend the past couple of hours making a fool of herself and flirting, she abruptly leaves Luke to have lunch on his own after a few choice words. During the story, a man named Derek Smeath is trying to track down Becky, with the hope of organising some sort of payment for her outstanding arrears on her bank cards. However, whenever he tries to contact Becky, she either ends up throwing his letters in a skip, under her bed or left unopened or writes to him with various excuses as to why she can't deal with this right now. She often asks herself why they can't just leave her alone. When Suze and Becky are looking through magazines, they come across a feature about eligible millionaires, included in that list in Tarquin (Suze's cousin) and Luke Brandon. When Tarquin asks Becky out, she agrees to go after learning this information. Although she does not find him that attractive, Becky actually has quite a good time at their date, even if she did say if they got married their marriage would be based on alcohol. During the date, Tarquin asks more about the fictitious Aunt Ermitude, panicking, Becky makes up that her Aunt had set up a charity for children abroad to be given violin teachers. Tarquin offers to make a donation, getting out his chequebook and writing out a cheque for £5000, although she know's she's lied, Becky sees this as a unique opportunity to clear her debts, however, when she thinks a little more she realises she can't accept the cheque. Whilst Tarquin goes to the bathroom, a suspicious Becky allows temptation to win, resulting in her flicking through Tarquin's chequebook to see what he spends his money on, she does not find anything interesting however panics when she thinks Tarquin spotted her looking through it. Becky gives up trying to date Tarquin as she does not find him very attractive... even if he is rich. Realising she's run out of believable excuses to giver her bank manager, Derek Smeath, Becky runs away from her life and goes to hide at her parents house. She informs her parents that if a man phones want to speak to her who's named Derek Smeath, they're not except his call as he is her.... stalker! Whilst at her parents house, Becky learns that her parents next door neighbours made a decision based on her advice to them earlier on in the book which has resulted in them loosing a substantial amount of money. Horrified by learning this, Becky sets out to make things right. She decides to write an article about the bank that conned her parent's next door neighbours out of thousands of pounds, which leads to her receiving quite a huge success from it. Becky immediately gets invited to appear on a daytime TV show, where she learns that the bank is client of Luke Brandon's company, Brandon Communications. The show has also invited Luke to appear in the same segment to argue Becky's points. Luke is angry at Becky when he arrives as he believes Becky has only written the article to get back at him for the disastrous shopping trip. After arguing with Becky, Luke announces at she was right and that Brandon Communications will no longer represent the bank. Afterwards, Becky is rewarded with a regular slot on the show. Luke invites Becky for a business meeting at the Ritz Hotel, however when she arrives, not a lot of business is discussed as they fill their faces with food and end up spending the night together at the hotel. Missing yet another meeting with her bank manager, he writes to inform Becky that the meeting can be postponed as since she's been appearing on the TV show, her accounts are no longer outstanding. However, hes assured her that he'll be keeping a very close eye on her accounts... Film Adaptation Starring Isla Fisher as Becky Bloomwood and Hugh Dancy as Luke Brandon a film adaptation was released on 13th February 2009.